Would you use Bravecto?

[elevenswan]

The puppy is acting a bit itchy, worried he's got fleas (again). Last time nothing worked- frontline, baths, flea combing, washing and hoovering like mad, flea spray on everything- until the vet gave us Bravecto. Have since googled it and there's lots of scary stuff about it causing health problems but can't tell if it's well founded or not. Would you give your dog it? Thanks!

Then research it.
And then add up the risks of naturally treating them compared to the risks of chemically treating them.

I'm aware of the dangers of worms/fleas etc, I'm also aware of the dangers of chemically treating our pets for these issues.

The fact neither of my dogs (or cat) has had any of them goes a long way.

Lonecatwithkitten seconded. Their are no signs for lungworm until too late & people sometimes forget that pet "worms" are not the earthworm garden type but microscopic.

Have used Bravecto 100's of time with great responses. 1 or 2 vomiting but that happens with all meds.
Domestos comes with a longer list of adverse affects than Bravecto, yet how many of us have it in our homes, that is what risk;benefit ratios are for.

SparklingRaspberry, respectfully you have been giving a lot of advice on pet based queries here, everyone is entitled to an opinion of course but I would caution against treatment recommendations unless you are an MRCVS or RVN even if meant with good intentions.

I have treated a dog who's owner was giving diacomatous (spelling!) earth as a wormer having read up on multiple natural remedies & inadvertantly gave their dog copper poisoning & killed it.

RVN here, have treated hundreds of dogs with advocate and bravecto without adverse reaction. Same goes for advocate/drontal etc. In fact I can't remember one case in 10 years qualified of an animal getting sick from flea treatment given correctly.

Some dogs never get fleas despite never been flea treated. I wouldn't give my own garlic or any untested unregulated herbal treatments. It costs a fortune to get drugs licensed for a reason!

Well my dog is an mdr1 carrier so advocate is much more likely to have a negative outcome that bravecto! And that is based on science rather than a fb group. I'm sticking to bravecto.

Noot - that's absolutely horrible and such a shame that poor dog died. However the owner mustn't have researched properly.

But again there are far, far more dogs left ill or dead through using chemically flea/worm treatments like this one.

I'm not saying everyone MUST treat their animals the same as me. However I absolutely recommend everyone at least researching.

The risks of chemically treating your dog are far more greater than naturally treating them

Sparkling - are you a vet? If dispensing medical advice was that easy then vets wouldn't need to do a minimum of five years studying

Here is a list of reported adverse events from Bravecto - granted there are a few caveats with this list, one dog may have more than one symptom etc, this list does not state how many tablets were administered in that time so we can't actually work out a percentage risk. Bravecto has only been licensed since 2014 so those are two years figures at most. The Facebook page is totally unscientific but anecdotal cases need to be acknowledged in the same way that case studies are an important part of overall research.
No I am not a vet and Sparkling has not said she is a vet, she is mearly encouraging people to research alternatives of which there are many. I hope that no one would would make important health decisions based on advice they get from strangers on an internet forum but I do hope that people have enough interest to actually find out the facts from more than one source and then make a decision.
I have stated upthread I would not take pesticides myself - I get tics on my legs all the time in the summer, I would not give an equivalent to my kids (say for example such a tablet was released to treat headlice) so I won't give it to my dog.

I wouldn't personally as my cousins border collie had a life threatening reaction to it which has scared me off it a bit! But then every dog is different and I'm sure there are thousands of dogs who get on with it just fine.

Just because something is reported as an adverse event, does not make it related to the product. The definition is an unfavorable and unintended event after the use of a product which may or may not be considered to be product related. Anyone can report anything, however tenuous e.g. dog being hit by a car can be classed as an AE, but that does not make it related to treatment.
Whenever something happens to an animal, (understandably) owners want to find something or someone to blame and medications are an easy target.
As an aside, a quick look on PubMed reveals zero publications on evidence for garlic in management of fleas, so no published peer reviewed data. Time spent googling is not research, however much you want it to be.

So basically those that do not use chemical treatments have no protection against lungworm .

Floral spot on. Obviously you have to weigh up the risk in your area.

Lonecat I hope that pun was intended

Sparkling - are you a vet?

Funny you should ask, I'm a veterinary assistant working alongside a vet who practices both traditional and homeopathic ways of treatment. She always, always tries to encourage owners of animals to treat as naturally as possible.

So yes, I do know what I'm on about.

And trust me, just because somebody may be a vet and trained for 5 years it sometimes means very little! Many vets I have spoken to said on average during the 5 years of studying, they studied diet for a whopping.... 2 seminars

Traditional vets recommend giving your dogs boosters, yet the manufactures recommend injecting your dog no more than every 3 years then 5, due to the risks.

It's called money making

You do realise that homeopathy is complete bunkum don't you?? So if you're working alongside a vet who peddles sugar pills then no, she doesn't know what she's talking about

What teatime said.
And the reason vets have shifted to 3-5 yearly boosters is related to manufacturers performing long duration studies (which rely on keeping dogs isolated for the entire period so that natural immunity can't come into play) to demonstrate that the vaccine provides immunity for longer than was previously recognised, nothing to do with safety. Not all components of a vaccine can be given with extended intervals. The vast majority of vets have happily embraced the philosophy of annual check ups with boosters of required components only. There will always be a few who won't, but annual vaccination is still safer than resorting to unproven 'alternative' medicines.

Rolling around laughing that boosters make money. Vast majority of practices they are a loss leader product, at best they break even.

So what qualifications do you have as a veterinary assistant ?

So do you and your charlatan homeopathic vet give your sugar pills and magic water away for free then? Seeing as you frown upon earning money for doing a job?

Please email defra and ask to see the graph showing breeds of dog most frequently affected by bravecto. Labrador is at the top of the list. Please stick to spot on treatments of anything but fluralaner and don't go through the hell we've gone through.

I’ve regularly used Bravecto for my cavalier and he has been fine. I didn’t know about the possible side effects.

Anyone who consumes chicken and eggs will also be indirectly consuming the active ingredient in bravecto (fluralaner).
It is added routinely to drinking water of hens used for egg/meat production. Brand name exzolt to treat red mite.
After seeing what it did to our dog. We no longer eat these products.

My 7 year old extremely fit and active spaniel died 2 weeks after using bravecto for the 1st time last November. I will never use it again - absolutely frightening stories off side affects on dogs. Do appreciate some dogs don’t. Have your dog check out before using it.

Used Bravecto for four years every three months for my two cavaliers. Absolutely no side effects at all. That's not to say that no dog will have a reaction to it. But that's the same for all medication. Most will be fine. Some won't. The point of the adverse effect reporting is to identify frequent side effects and examine the circumstances around them.

It's a hard one. Elfpup had Bravecto for the first time 4 weeks ago.

He has now developed symptoms of kidney damage and is currently awaiting a specialist appointment.